Oregon’s newest billionaire wants to revive horse racing but tribal leaders say not so fast: Beat Check podcast

Dutch Bros' Travis Boersma rings the ceremonial first trade bell on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, as his company's IPO opens, Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021.
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Travis Boersma helped start an iconic Oregon company, and the Dutch Bros cofounder is suddenly one of the state’s wealthiest residents.

But in recent months Boersma’s other passion – horse racing – is suddenly at the center of a political drama. And Boersma is threatening to lay off more than 200 employees if his plans aren’t approved in Salem.

On the latest episode of Beat Check with The Oregonian, business reporters Jeff Manning and Mike Rogoway talked about Boersma’s race track and gambling and restaurant center called the Flying Lark, why tribal governments see it as a huge threat to their casinos, how Dutch Bros is faring on the markets a few months after it went public and whether the race track controversy is a one off or the first indication of a new billionaire flexing his political muscle.

Related:

How Dutch Bros became an iconic Oregon company

Here’s the full episode:

-- Andrew Theen; atheen@oregonian.com; 503-294-4026; @andrewtheen

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